Aug 15 (Lagos) - SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Limited, an indigenous oil and gas company, and the operator of the NPDC/SEPLAT JV blocks, OMLs 4, 38 & 41, has announced a planned shutdown of its Oben Gas plant.
 
 
 
According to SEPLAT the planned shutdown of the 90mmscf/day Oben Gas Plant   is part of the ongoing plant upgrade that is designed to extend the plant life by another 20 years and achieve the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) specification.
 
 
 
The shutdown operation is the concluding part of the plant upgrade which the NPDC/SEPLAT JV has invested a significant amount of money. The operation will be in two phases with each phase running for seven days. During the first period of the upgrade, the Oben gas plant will operate at 50% of installed capacity, while the second phase will be a total shutdown for 7days.
 
 
 
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seplat, Mr. Austin Avuru said that the plant upgrade is another testimony of the joint venture’s unwavering commitment to ensuring a long-term supply of abundant, clean, relatively cheaper fuel to end-users in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin, providing additional outlet for its gas production in line with the federal government initiative to put an end to gas flaring in the upstream of the oil and gas industry and further monetise the gas resources of the nation .
 
 
 
“We expect this upgrade to strategically position the NPDC/Seplat JV to maintain a steady  supply of high quality gas for domestic obligations  and   neighbouring countries through the  WAGP, thus helping to stimulate industrial production/growth and support economic integration in these sub-regional economies”, said Avuru.
 
 
 
The Oben Gas plant was shut down on Monday, 13th August, 2012 in line with Seplat’s agreement with the Nigerian Gas Company and other stakeholders. During the period of the shutdown, a new control room will be hooked up and pre-fabricated meter run (with DOF on the sales gas line), valves and vortex flow meters amongst other equipment will be installed.
reporting for easykobo.com on Wednesday, August 15 2012 from Lagos, Nigeria